


Heroes and Murderers

by CutesyMe



Series: Klance Week 2k16 [6]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Galra!Keith, Klanceweek2k16, M/M, Self-Hatred, but nothing graphic, klance, klanceweek, mentions of murdering someone
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-10
Updated: 2016-08-10
Packaged: 2018-08-07 23:31:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7734028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CutesyMe/pseuds/CutesyMe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Keith laughs humorlessly. “I am not your friend,” he growls and then tranforms to his galran being. “THIS is what I am. A galran warrior, a killing machine, a murderer. I am no hero like you.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Heroes and Murderers

**Author's Note:**

> I made it. Now I only need to write Day 7.
> 
> This is a little sad.
> 
> Prompt is Hero//Villain.

There are a lot of things that are wrong with the universe and Keith is one of the reasons for it. He didn’t do all the damage in this universe, some other beings that no one remembers now are at fault too and Zarkon is at fault for maybe ninety percent of all the things that are wrong in this universe but Keith took part in that.

In retrospect his life with the galra was even worse than he thought back at that time. Keith is different than the rest of the galra, not only externally but also internally. He learned really fast, and in the most painful way at that, that he wasn’t allowed to be merciful. Everyone had noticed how ‘soft’ he was. They laughed at him, said he would die early in the training of becoming a warrior.

He doesn’t know why but one of the generals had made it his goal to make Keith’s life hell and to make him become ruthless. Back then he thought that was a galran and sick way of torturing the weak ones and he wanted to die. Now he isn’t sure anymore what the meaning of that was but he is grateful for having lived on.

“Stop it Hunk!” Pidge exclaimes when Hunk touches one of her technical devices again.

Shay laughs and pats Hunk’s back when he pouts. Keith wonders what Shay would think if he shows her his true self, his galran self. She will hate him. He remembers clearly how he came to the bulmera three years ago and ripped a crystal out of it. He regrets it now but that regret doesn’t undo the bulmera’s pain.

Keith pats the ground he is sitting on, pats the bulmera, and silently apologizes, making a mental note to talk to Shay alone later and ask her to convey the message to the bulmera so it will know. He doubts the bulmera will forgive him but he needs to try.

Shiro laughs about something one of the children says to him and Keith smiles to himself. Shiro, who Keith sees now as a friend and as someone Keith will die for when he needs protection, is a constant reminder of the things Keith is capable of and did. He didn’t do anything to Shiro, he would remember someone like Shiro, but he might as well have when he looks at Shiro’s scar and his arm.

Shiro catches Keith staring and his face softens as if he knows - Keith is sure that he does - what Keith is thinking. Keith smiles back hesitantly and averts his gaze. He doesn’t deserve someone as pure and nice as Shiro looking at him, let alone smiling.

An arm wraps around Keith’s shoulder, and Keith smells him before he sees him - would recognize that smell anywhere.

“What are you doing?” Lance asks and smiles widely.

Keith looks away.

Lance is also someone Keith thinks he doesn’t deserve. At first he didn’t like Lance, the boy is too loud, flirts a lot, and makes corny , embarrassing jokes. The fact that he freaked out when he found out that Keith is a galra didn’t help, it only made Keith more self-conscious.

Everyone had reacted negatively to Keith. Lance mistrusted him conpletely, Shiro, Allura and Coran took him in friendlier than everyone else but they still didn’t trust him, Hunk and Pidge were too curious to stay away from him for too long but in the end they also were cautious.

Keith had done a lot of work to earn their trust. In the beginning he had thought about leaving multiple times, but that wasn’t possible because of his lion and because no matter how excluded he felt, Keith still wanted to make it work.

He knows he was, and still is, selfish and that he doesn’t deserve this, but when he saw the team, how friendly they are with each other, the stupid jokes they make, and how they bicker, Keith had wanted that for himself too.

Thankfully, everyone had warmed up to Keith and accepted him as one of theirs. It happened rather fast - although Shiro doesn’t count because he is nice to everyone - and that surprised Keith. But the one who changed his attitude towards Keith the most is Lance, and maybe that is also,why Keith is extra cautious when it comes to him.

“You know?” Lance speaks up again when Keith doesn’t answer. “You think too much. Chill. Relax. Chillax. And enjoy your time with me.”

Lance wiggles his eyebrows at the end, and Keith has been around him enough to know that Lance is flirting with him. This started around a month after Keith joined them. Keith doesn’t know what triggered this but it threw him off guard, still does.

Keith’s initial reaction was to be mad, to yell at Lance and distance himself. But he always felt bad afterwards. He also didn’t know what else to do, still doesn’t. It went on like this for weeks after Shiro had a talk with Keith and then Keith reeled back a little bit. Lance and him still bicker but at least there is no guilt anymore.

“Leave me alone, Lance,” Keith says.

“No.”

“I want to be alone,” Keith says and tries to make himself sound more serious.

Lance put a hand on Keith’s cheek, the motion making Keith hold his breath, and turned Keith’s head so he would face him. Lance is so close that Keith can see the different specks of blue in his eyes. It’s dangerously close.

“You’re always alone,” Lance speaks up and Keith gulps. “You bury yourself in self-hatred and I won’t let that happen anymore.” Lance leads his lips to Keith’s cheek, presses a soft kiss there, and leads his lips to Keith’s ear, where they move against the shell when Lance speaks. “You deserve to be happy.”

Keith is frozen for a moment and then anger replaces the confusion. Keith pushes Lance away and gets to his feet, stomping to the castle. From the corner of his eye he can see that everyone has witnessed what happend and are now confused, Hunk’s thumbs still up, frozen in place, and his mouth open in confusion.

When Keith is out of sight, he starts running, his heart beating wildly for a whole different reason. He immediately enters his bathroom after he reaches his room, and stares at himself in the mirror. The human he sees in there is a stranger, he doesn’t know him. Keith closes his eyes and when he opens them again he is his galran self. This is who he is. No matter how much he tries to hide under the other skin. This is what he will always be.

The worst part about Keth is that he always had a feeling that what he was doing was not normal but he didn’t stop. He was selfish then and still is now. He was afraid of getting killed while finishing off whole planets. At least he deserved it, still does. The ones he killed were innocent. He still remembers the small boy protecting the dead body of his mother and being shot by a galran warrior. He had puked behind some bushes where no one could see him.

Keith screams at his reflection and punches it, shards digging into his skin. Blood leaks from the wounds and Keith sinks to the floor. His body is shaking and he has problems breathing.

“Keith!”

Keith snaps his head up when he hears Lance call for him from Keith’s room, shock seeping into his bones. He barely transforms back in time before Lance sees his galran self.

Lance stares at Keith confused when he finds him on the floor and then his eyes widen in shock when he sees Keith’s bleeding hand.

“Keith!” he exclaims and lets himself fall to his knees next to Keith. The impact must have hurt. “What did you do?” he continues to ask, softly taking Keith’s hand into his, craddling it. It hurt Keith.

Lance looks up and shakes his head when he sees Keith’s blood on the broken mirror. He tugs at Keith’s hand and gets to his feet.

“Lets clean that up before it infects.”

Keith rips his hand out of Lance’s grasp and craddles it to his chest, not meeting Lance’s eyes. “I think I already told you twice that I want to be alone.”

Lance grips Keith by his upper arm and turns him around until Keith has to face Lance. For someone as skinny as Lance he is quiet strong.

“I’m not going to,” Lance mumbles and tugs Keith to his feet.

Keith rips himself away again, the all too familiar fury filling his body and mind.

“What is your problem? What do you want?” he screams.

“I want to help you!” Lance screams back instantly.

“WHY WOULD YOU HELP ME?”

“BECAUSE YOU’RE MY FRIEND!”

Keith stares at Lance in shock, watching as Lance’s anger turns to something soft because of Keith’s silence, and then Keith snaps.

“I AM NOT YOUR FRIEND! WHO GAVE YOU SUCH AN AWFUL IDEA? WHO?” he yells.

“We are friends. We are teammates, a family.”

Keith laughs humorlessly. “I am not your friend,” he growls and then tranforms to his galran being. “THIS is what I am. A galran warrior, a killing machine, a murderer. I am no hero like you.”

Keith expects Lance to run, to agree with him and leave Keith behind. When Lance does the opposite, when he cups Keith’s cheeks and pulls him so close their noses are almost touching, Keith stares in shock.

“YOU WERE a galran warrior. You used to destroy planets and take lives. You used to be on Zarkon’s side. Now you are a paladin. The guardian of the spirit of fire. The red lion chose you. Do you not trust its judgement? Do you not trust Allura and Coran who know an enemy when they see him? Do you not trust Shiro who despite being overbearingly nice will kill his enemy in an instant? Do you not trust Pidge and Hunk and me? Who fell in love with you? Would I have done that if you were an awful living being?”

Keith shakes his head and lets himself fall onto his knees again. Lance helps him down and holds him as he tears up and clutches onto Lance as if his life depends on it. He is still shaking his head when Lance shushes him and breaks.

The first tears leak and the first sob is choked out. More tears fall and Keith hides his face in Lance’s chest when he can’t stop the sobs anymore. Lance holds Keith as he shakes.

“I know you did things you are too ashamed to talk about,” Lance coos and runs his hand through Keith’s hair. “I can’t imagine what you had to do. But at that time you didn’t know anything else. If someone grows up knowing nothing else they can’t do anything else.” Lance tightens his grip around Keith when a sob shakes his whole body. “Whatever you did in the past can’t be changed. The important thing is that you are now putting an end to Zarkon’s reign.”

“I-I took…so…so many l-lives,” Keith sobs and Lance shushes him.

Holding Keith is the only thing Lance can do now.

**Author's Note:**

> Sooooo? How did you guys like that? Was it any good?
> 
> tumblr: @mitaki


End file.
